What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Parkhead
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it got in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is around Parkhead itself or out in Ecclesall. Leave the engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Parkhead. When the motor has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn the vehicle off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Below: the situations our engineers see, anywhere in South Yorkshire. Choose yours.
At the pump in Parkhead: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Possibly you're at the Esso, possibly at the Tesco, perhaps somewhere else around Parkhead.
In short: no better spot exists to spot it. Only your tank has AdBlue; not one component beyond it has drawn it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — so don't get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Parkhead
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Driveways close to Ecclesall Road South get it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Next: the keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle off at breakfast. Then, phone. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether in Parkhead or Hill Top. Late-night clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
On the road around Parkhead with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and before long your engine was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Somewhere along Bents Road or heading to Sheffield — under 5 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a longer trip, after your filter and lines have it. It travels further with each extra mile driven and each restart.
Stop safely — that's the first step — then switch it off. Services further along are too far: from the M1, under 10 miles out of Parkhead, take the first junction. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Let us hear the distance driven as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It's a car you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere in South Yorkshire, might make the same.
The upshot: just as above, divided by if it ran, only with one added step. Plenty of hire and company agreements require the owner's sign-off for work.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Stranded by Bents Green Methodist Church or at Dore & Totley until someone replies, the car remains switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Parkhead?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think so. A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. The gates of Dobcroft Nursery Infant School in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway out in Whirlow.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by a little AdBlue splashed on the filler. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be sucked in by firing up the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Your move: behave as if it did, and never start the motor. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than an already-run one drained.
The common ground in every Parkhead AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, one start applies. Our technicians come to your car, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Hammer & Pincers or a side street close to Ecclesall Library, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and whether your motor has run. The price is given over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the work.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, because crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Fresh diesel is put in once your filter has been flushed or replaced, and your car is then tested. If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Last, we fire it up. We make sure it runs smoothly on new diesel before leaving. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and if it is caught early, lasting damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance before we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Parkhead itself
Parkhead is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, sitting at an elevation of 202 metres. Parkhead is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting the area's residential development. Parkhead is situated near other local places such as Hill Top, Bents Green, and Little Common, and is approximately 3.1 miles from Sheffield city centre. Parkhead has a population of around 4300 residents.
AdBlue drains around Parkhead and across South Yorkshire
Bents Green and Little Common have the same vans as Parkhead, a residential suburb, along with other places over S postcodes. Quickest of all: a S11 9 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is needed, whether stopped in the centre of Parkhead or on a lay-by en route to Silverdale School Field, and so leave it where it is. The van empties it in place. Tricky to pin down? By Ecclesall War Memorial or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Unstarted? Leave it off then ring. Started by now? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever it is, across Parkhead and South Yorkshire, on 0333 366 0103.